Flightcom Magazine October 2023

FlightCm

John Bassi – takes on taildraggers!

Cover: John Bassi Hugh Pryor considers 9-11

OCTOBER 2023

EDITION 177

04 08

Publisher Flyer and Aviation Publications cc

Managing Editor Guy Leitch guy@flightcommag.com

Advertising Sales Wayne Wilson wayne@saflyermag.co.za

Layout & Design Patrick Tillman: Imagenuity cc

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Bush Pilot - Hugh Pryor

News - Aeroflot instructs pilots to turn brakes off

Pilots - Laura McDermid

14 17 18 23 24 27 28 29 30 32

John Bassi - Taming Taildraggers

AME Directory

Jeffrey Kempson - Dakota Gamblers Weekend

News - The Ural A320 forced landing

Jacqueline Mwende - Mission Flying

News - P&W’s GTF – a U$3 billion recall

Alpi Aviation SA: Flight School Directory

Merchant West Charter Directory

Skysource AMO Listing

Backpage Directory

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:

BUT THIS IS FAR FROM THE WHOLE picture. IATA has many notable achievements, not just to airline regulation, but to the entire industry.

Notable is the new Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) (i.e. airline ticket sales) and the Carbon Net Zero by 2050 goal. Both of these initiatives are quietly but significantly improving the airline industry .

But the biggest accomplishment of IATA has been to do the seemingly impossible – to transform the African airline industry from one of the most dangerous in the world to one of the safest. It accomplished this by creating the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), which is now a condition of membership in IATA.

The proof is evident in the numbers. In Africa, the accident rate is 1.18 for IOSA registered carriers compared to a rate of 9.79 for non-IOSA carriers. Thus IOSA registered airlines in Africa are almost 8 times safer than non-IOSA airlines.

Around the world, more than 100 non-IATA member airlines also see the value of IOSA certification. Since 2005, the all-accident rate for airlines on the IOSA registry is 1.40 per million sectors, compared with 3.49 per million sectors for non-IOSA airlines. In 2022, IOSA registered carriers outperformed those not on the registry by a factor of four (0.70 accidents per million sectors vs. 2.82 accidents per million sectors).

IOSA was launched in September 2003 with Qatar Airways as the first airline to be audited and join the IOSA Registry. IOSA has been a requirement for IATA membership since 2006. It is also a condition of membership in the three global airline alliances, as well as a number of regional airline associations.

IOSA was developed in cooperation with aviation regulatory bodies, including Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transport Canada. IOSA is now used by regulators in numerous countries to complement their safety regulatory oversight programs, and as the primary means to verify operational safety for many airline codeshare arrangements.

Last year, IATA began evolving IOSA to a risk-based model under which audits are tailored to the operator’s profile and focus on high-risk areas. The new approach also introduces a maturity assessment of the airline’s safety-critical systems and programs.

So inherently safe airlines will be less audited than problem ones. This follows the same principle as the IACO and FAA audits that the SACAA is wedded to as a measure of its success. Everything works better when you have grown-up running complex industries, rather than dazed and confused bureaucrats who have been promoted to one level above their level of competence. 

IOSA airlines in Africa are almost 8 times safer

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is often perceived to be a barking dog lobby group, pushing its member airlines interests against obdurate governments.

SEPTEMBER 11: FOOD FOR THOUGHT

OUR EFFORTS TO RATIONALISE

the concept of minds so completely perverted as to have been able to commit acts of such total abomination caused circuit breakers to pop in all our psyches.

The events were so inhumanly evil that our initial reactions were disbelief, followed closely by denial. “This cannot be happening. Nobody in his right mind would fly an aeroplane full of passengers into the World Trade Centre. I mean, the crew wouldn’t let it happen would they?”

And then the second one went in.

effects never ever seen before on canvas, stage or screen. It stirs all the emotions. There are scenes of terror, hysteria, pathos, tragedy, heroism, mystery and, yes, even humour.

It remains to be seen whether there is any hope of redemption in the future. Meanwhile, the best we can hope to do is to take measures to prevent such horrors re-occurring, and the cockpit is one of the places where we will have to start.

lethal weapons

Even Tom Clancy’s imagination could not have conceived a plot of such enormity. To be frank, nobody would have believed it. The book would not have sold. Clancy devotees world-wide would have turned away from their icon, in the belief that he had run out of ideas and resorted to implausible sensationalism in order to satisfy the cravings of his fans.

The Twin Towers massacre has been described as the greatest work of art ever produced. It contains visual

Untried methods will have to be tested to counter the threat posed by this new breed of hijackers, for whom suicide is an ambition. These measures will have to include the use of potentially life-threatening techniques to prevent the aircraft becoming a weapon in the hands of the hijackers. These may include the use of lethal weapons, anaesthetic gasses, the depressurisation of the hull, even suicide, as was thought to have been used in the Pennsylvania aircraft, N591UA, by those heroic passengers...Which reminds me of something which happened to me some years ago, in Mozambique. It sounds like a complete ‘non sequitur’, but I think you will get the point as you read on.

September the 11th, 2001. None of us will ever forget the deep dark horror which penetrated all of our souls as we watched, with an intimacy only made possible by television, ordinary people going through an experience which rivalled the worst brutalities of all-out war.

may include the use of

I was involved in an operation with a large international aid organization, to bring relief to the war-ravaged population of Mozambique. Our remit was to carry food, medical supplies and personnel to various outlying centres, most of which had been cut off from the world for half a generation.

Our mode of transport was the legendary De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, a twenty-passenger turbo prop which lands in places which would very often make a 4 by 4 think twice. Our base was the once-beautiful Indian Ocean port of Beira, which had been reduced to penury by mindless communism and its ensuing war.

The organization for which I was working, relied (and still does so to this day,) on its reputation for total neutrality and transparency to guarantee its safety in the theatres in which it operated. Normally speaking, if there’s no war, the Organization is not there, so by definition, if you are flying for that bunch, you will tend to be putting yourself in harm’s way to a certain extent. You will also be putting your passengers and cargo in the same position.

Obviously, there are ways to limit the risks and experience has drawn up its own manuals of operating procedures, each one applicable to each different environment.

A lot depends on trust and intelligence information. If, for example a rebel commander says it is safe to transit over a certain area, you have to trust him, although we had one company aircraft shot down one hundred miles north east of Quelimane in Mozambique, after one such guarantee. All on board survived the crash uninjured, which says a lot for the skill of the pilot, the integrity of Mr. Cessna’s designers and, of course, the bravery of the Mozambiquan helicopter crew who flew the extremely hazardous rescue mission.

You also have to trust your passengers, and this very nearly led to a situation which, although hilarious to look back on, almost caused me not to be writing this story.

Henrietta, known as Harry to her friends, was a bigboned, brash, buxom, blonde lady from the Low

Countries. She was a pharmacist and had been sent out to Mozambique by the Dutch, at the request of our branch of the Organization.

Socially, Harry was the life and soul of the party. Her sheer size and the impressive tone of her laugh made her the focus of attention and she appeared to enjoy being centre-stage. Professionally she had an enviable reputation for getting things done. You didn’t get in Harry’s way if she was on a mission. It wasn’t just her voice that could be intimidating when she was provoked.

One day as I was passing the Medical Administrator’s office, a voice hailed me from its shady interior. “Hugh...Got a minute?”

“Of course Sean. How can I be of assistance?” The Medical Administrator, Dr Sean, was a little whitehaired gem of a man from Tullamore, which is also the home of one of the more distinguished Irish Whiskeys. He had an easy smile and a continuous twinkle in his eye.

“It’s Harry again, Hugh. I found out she intends to send a consignment of Chloroform up to Nampula hospital with you on Thursday. You’re not supposed to carry that stuff, are you?”

“Not with passengers, Sean, no.”

Well Harry is very determined to get the vials delivered, so I suppose we’ll just have to work something out for her.”

Harry was ‘very determined’ with me later that evening as well, to the point that we ran out of polite things to say to each other, once she had established that I was sticking to the book on this one. In fact, she stormed off to bed at seven-thirty, after failing to convince me that I was being stupid about the chloroform. And that was very early indeed for Harry.

Tuesday and Wednesday were busy days for Essa, my co-pilot, from Finland, and myself, involving early morning starts and late evening arrivals. So our social life was curtailed to the point that Harry and I had no

A lot depends on trust and intelligence

opportunity to patch up our differences. In fact, so busy had we been, that I forgot what had caused them in the first place.

So, on Thursday morning, I was only aware that Harry was treating me with a certain amount of reserve when she approached the aircraft for the long flight up to Nampula.

After getting everybody boarded, briefed and buckled up, we started engines, completed our systems checks and took off for the first leg to Quelimane, which is a small port up the coast from our base in Beira. We had a smooth flight below the broken layer of fair weather cumulo-stratus cloud, passing over large areas of countryside which had been productively cultivated before the civil war had removed honest labourers from the landscape.

At Quelimane’s pretty little red-roofed airport, we topped off the fuel tanks and took on another couple of passengers for the second leg to Nampula. It was Essa’s turn to fly and his competence allowed me to relax and watch in confidence.

By this time, the heat was pushing thermals of hot wet air upward off the sea, feeding the cumulus clouds until they grew into towering bubbling cauliflowers of vapour which forced us up and up amongst their dancing columns. At nine thousand five hundred feet we were above them, but I could see that there were several individual cells in the distance ahead, which thrust themselves above their neighbours, and these were the arrogant ones which would turn violent later as we reached them.

I leaned forward and turned the radar from ‘standby’ to ‘normal’, switching the range to eighty miles. Already some green clumps of radar returns on the screen indicated the presence of rain falling out of the bigger clouds up ahead. What had started the day as friendly, puffy lumps of cotton wool, were now developing into obstacles which we would have to circumnavigate in order to reach our destination.

We would need more altitude too, because even the

more innocent clouds were now following the bad influence of their haughty neighbours. We started to climb. Now the big boys were growing long grey tendrils of rain, falling out of the rolling folds of appropriately named Cumulus Mamatus which protruded like great breasts from the lowest levels of the build-ups. Even the innocents were developing dark grey bases, as if to declare their solidarity with the ring-leaders.

It was going to be a rough trip from here on in, and we still had over an hour to go before reaching the comforts of Nampula, which was still reporting cloudless skies and light winds. I switched on the seat-belt signs and asked the passengers to check that their buckles were properly fastened. I mentioned that we were going to be thrown around a bit and that we might have to climb to higher altitudes to get over the worst of the lumps. I told them that since we were unpressurised there could be some people who would feel uncomfortable as we climbed and they should tell us, so that we could descend quickly into the more breathable, though much more uncomfortable, levels below us.

We were just reaching eleven thousand five hundred feet when we went through a particularly vicious down-draught, as we passed under the overhanging anvil of one of the original bad boys we had spotted earlier on the radar.

As we dropped, an explosion of hail rattled against the windscreen. Nothing serious, you understand, but enough, with the turbulence, to grab the undivided attention of our guests in the back. I turned to look into the cabin and jokingly blamed everything on Essa, who responded in kind by laughing and blaming me. Our little pantomime appeared to have alleviated the situation enough to allow a few nervous grins to flit across the faces of our passengers and then Essa turned and tapped my arm. A serious expression had suddenly driven away any vestige of humour.

“Can you smell something?”

“Yes, I certainly can!” I replied. “Get the cockpit doors

an explosion of hail rattled against the windscreen

shut! Fast! I should have known Harry would try this! Get your window open and check the cabin air vents are fully open!”

I unlocked and opened the window my side. and we both donned our oxygen masks. What we could smell was the unmistakable aroma of Chloroform.

Needless to say, our colleagues in the back missed the last hour and a quarter of moderate to severe turbulence, lightening, thunder, lashing rain and the odd return bout with the hail. They were all fast asleep. They even missed Essa’s landing at Nampula. Actually, it was such a greaser that they might have missed it even if he had not had the assistance of the Chloroform.

Anyway, when everyone finally came round from the anaesthetic, after we had got back to Mother Earth, I raced round and opened the airstair door to let everybody out and to save Barf Bags. It was discovered that Harry had ‘inadvertently’ packed two boxes of the phials of Chloroform in her hand baggage and, whether due to the turbulence or the altitude, they had popped when we climbed over the saddle between the anvil and its enormous brother.

Harry was totally unrepentant and I think that’s what finally decided the ‘powers that be’ that she would be more use (not to say ‘safe’) back in her own country.

Which leads me back to where we started.

If, during a flight, you suddenly find yourself confronted by a bunch of suicidal maniacs who are trying to break their way into your cockpit with intent, just pray that you’ve got Harry down the back and that she didn’t forget to bring the Chloroform this time! ------oooOoo------

Meanwhile, we have to potter on as best we can. The world can no longer function without aeroplanes. This is a fact of life. But for everyone who saw the Twin Towers disappear from the Manhattan skyline that day,

the aviation industry has lost an awful lot of its hightech glitter.

Obviously the first line of defence is not to let the beasts and their weapons onto the ‘planes in the first place and there is considerable evidence to show that if the American Domestic Flight security had been up to the standard of the security on their International flights, then the 11th of September 2001 might not have been engraved so deeply on the puplic memory.

Security, however can only go so far. A plastic knife sharp enough to cut through a steak is certainly sharp enough to cut through a jugular. A cockpit door built by the designers of Fort Knox can still be opened by blackmail or subterfuge. Even if you fill half the ‘Y’ class seats with sky marshals, one has to ask how many police officers in the United States are killed every year by their own weapons. The answer to that is ‘far too many’.

The problem is that, if you are dealing with a person who considers it a lifetime’s ambition to commit suicide and to take as many of his fellow humans as possible to Paradise with him, only radical solutions of frightening singleness of mind will suffice. Once an aeroplane becomes a weapon in the hands of such a person, the potential for destruction is almost unlimited.

The Twin Towers removed any lingering doubts we might have harboured about that. The truth of the matter is that the beasts must be stopped at all costs, even if, as in the case of the Pennsylvania heroes, it means sacrificing your own life in order to save the lives of thousands of others.

Cockpit philosophy has made a complete one-eighty since the 11th of September. Now, instead of advising total compliance with the demands of the hijackers, the aviation authorities urge aircrews to use any means available to kill them. Not ‘disable’ you’ll notice...Kill.

Food for thought.

the potential for destruction is almost unlimited 

AEROFLOT INSTRUCTS PILOTS TO TURN BRAKES OFF

TO COPE WITH THE ISSUE OF REPLACING

worn-out brakes on Airbus and Boeing aircraft, Aeroflot has instructed its pilots to turn them off, as reported by Moscow Times.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sanctions imposed by Western countries have not only closed the airspaces of the United States, United Kingdom and EU for Russian aircraft but have also prevented aviation companies from servicing the country’s aircraft or providing spare parts. As a result, Aeroflot, whose fleet mostly consists of Western-made Airbus and Boeing jets, cannot directly access parts and spares from the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). According to ch-aviation.com data, the airline’s fleet

comprises 295 aircraft, of which 217 (approximately 74%) are Airbus or Boeing.

To circumvent these restrictions, Aeroflot has reportedly begun sending its aircraft to Iran for maintenance. Iran, having been under heavy sanctions for several decades, is believed to have developed extensive knowledge in repairing aircraft under such circumstances. Previous media reports have indicated a deteriorating safety situation at Aeroflot. For instance, one Russian investigative news publication claimed that the airline had instructed its staff to stop logging malfunctions on flights to prevent aircraft from being grounded, despite the necessity of fixing the issues.

An Aeroflot A320 comes in to land with questionable brakes.

As Western sanctions on Russia bite, Aeroflot is struggling to keeps its airliners supplied with key parts and components.

LAURA MCDERMID

IRIS - HER EARLY YEARS. PART 6 The Nurse’s Congo Ordeal

McDermid continues her stories about Iris McCallum in Rwanda.

IN MY CASE THE YEAR WAS 1994, my ‘Rwanda’ year. A year defined by extreme highs and lows. That year revealed the full spectrum of what human beings are capable of.

The levels of depravity and extreme cruelty that are woven into our DNA came as the biggest shock. On the one hand, the things that one human being could do to another in cold blood never ceased to appal and sadden me. On the other hand, the lengths that some people would go to in order to help a complete stranger in need also never ceased to amaze me.

worst aspects of humanity are irrevocably entwined with the best. And so these contradictions lived in me, side by side.

I was freelancing for Aslam Khan who owned Aircraft Leasing Services (ALS) and he had contracts with UNICEF and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

clouds stacking up like giant fists

I had flown into Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, mere days after the senseless killings began in April 1994. On 13 October I flew the President of Ireland and her entourage from Wilson in Nairobi to Kigali.

Don’t misunderstand me; I could never get used to seeing the body of a small child hacked to pieces by a lunatic wielding a panga. But I came to accept that the

I had hoped to get some time off at the end of the year, however, December transpired to be a very busy month

There are certain years in a person’s life that remain emblazoned on one’s memory forever. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that they are imprinted on one’s soul. Those years define us and shape who we are.

Laura

with me logging a total of 120 hours. I was bouncing between three aircraft, the Twin Otter 5Y-JHZ and the two King Air 200s, 5Y-BJM and BKA, flying between Sudan for UNICEF and Rwanda and Congo for the ICRC.

On 30 December I began the day flying 5Y-BJM, code name Red X 435t, from Wilson to Lokichogio (a town in the Turkana District in northwest Kenya), to drop off a fresh recruit ICRC medical staff and then back to Wilson.

After refuelling, I flew via Kigali to Ngara, a district in Tanzania, where one of the biggest refugee camps had been established to accommodate the masses who had fled Rwanda. I was to collect four Irish nurses who were being driven to Ngara from the Congo where they had been stationed.

During and following the genocide in Rwanda, nearly two million Hutu refugees crossed the Congolese border, mostly settling in refugee camps in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces.

I’d had very few days leave this year and I could appreciate how exhausted these poor ladies must be. I was to fly them to Wilson where they would catch a flight to Jomo Kenyatta International for a flight to Ireland. I was given strict instructions to be airborne before dark, as the storms over Lake Victoria could be violent, especially at night.

The massive lake which stretches 70,000 square kilometres, is the world’s second-largest freshwater body and the biggest of its kind in Africa, as well as the chief reservoir of the Nile.

The lake, which lies on the equator, has a distinct effect on the weather. It generates a huge amount of Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) which is characterized by the development of cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds with attendant severe weather hazards.

I landed on Runway 24 at Ngara and taxied to the spot where I was meant to meet the UN driver. But there was no one there. I glanced at my watch, which showed 16h30, two hours before sunset.

Ngara Refugee Camp Tanzania.

dedication to making the world a better place

I made a call on my HF radio and was told that my passengers were still on their way, but were held up at the Congolese border. There was nothing to do but wait. I watched the sky in the west transform from a dark blue to a brilliant, fiery orange.

The ubiquitous clouds over the lake were stacking up like giant fists. Jagged tendrils of light flickered and branched out in unpredictable patterns, creating a pyrotechnic spectacle.

Just as my concern was reaching its peak, the distant rumble of a car broke the tension. I let out a deep sigh of relief. The Land Rover rolled to a halt and the four nurses stepped out. Even from a distance, I could see that their bodies were stiff with tension.

As the driver approached me, his face filled with relief. I took his outstretched hand, noticing the stress etched on his face.

‘What happened my friend? I was expecting you several hours ago.’ I asked in Kiswahili.

Aziz recounted the harrowing ordeal that unfolded after their passports were confiscated by a border official who ‘had eyes like a snake’. They were forcibly detained and subjected to hours of interrogation in a windowless prefab room.

The Congolese authorities were suspicious, unable to fathom why four single white women would find themselves in the midst of war-torn Africa.

Aziz, steadfast and resolute, maintained his composure, never straying from his story in his efforts to prove that the women were nurses. However, the man with eyes like a snake continued to harass them. It was only when another official arrived that they were finally granted their freedom.

The four nurses introduced themselves as Cleo, Ciara, Pam, and Fran. I estimated them to be in their late twenties or early thirties, although they looked much older as a result of the harrowing ordeal they had endured.

Their faces were caked with dirt and their hair matted from the distressing experience. But beneath the layers of grime I could discern a hint of their once-rosy complexions, where tears had carved rivulets through the filth, serving as a poignant reminder of the horror they endured.

‘Thank you so very much for waiting for us, we realise that you have gone beyond the scope of your job’. Cleo’s eyes sparkled as the tears welled up.

Letter from Cleo Watson, one of the nurses rescued from Rwanda

tears had carved rivulets through the filth

‘If Aziz hadn’t stood his ground, I’m convinced that we would have been raped’.

I took her hand in mine. ‘I’m really sorry you had such a terrifying experience. Let me fix you some coffee and get you some water to clean your faces’.

Little did I know at the time that it was not to be my first or my last apology for the savagery of this beautiful continent I called home.

The coffee in the thermos was lukewarm but the ladies gulped it down as if it had been nectar from heaven.

We bade farewell to Aziz and soon we were airborne. That evening the weather was kind to us as we crossed the magnificent Lake Victoria. We were surrounded by storms and my passengers were enamoured with the towering clouds as they flashed on and off like light bulbs.

My previous trip in the King Air from Kigali to Nairobi saw me inadvertently fly into a cell of bad weather. We were pelted by hail so profuse that my forward vision was completely obscured. Thank goodness for the autopilot. I ended up executing a 180-degree turn and descending to FL140 before I managed to escape it.

Flying alongside members of relief organizations restored my faith in humanity. I encountered extraordinary individuals, many of whom had forsaken their safe and comfortable lives to embark on a profound journey to a foreign continent, to unfamiliar lands with strange languages.

These courageous souls willingly ventured into war zones, driven by an unwavering commitment to aid people they had never met and might never meet again. They staked everything on their sense of purpose.

I would touch down, leaving these individuals in new, often perilous environments, only to takeoff once more. If fortune smiled upon us, our paths might cross again in six weeks or three months.

What unfolded during that time lay entirely at the mercy of fate. I couldn’t help but feel that these remarkable individuals deserved more recognition and gratitude than they received.

The Irish nurses made it home safely and expressed their gratitude by sending me a bottle of Johnny Black.

I knew I was merely doing my job, but I held immense respect for them, for their unwavering dedication to making the world a better place. If only they knew the profound impact their work had on those they touched, including a humble pilot like me. 

Aircraft Leasing Services (ALS) Wilson Airport.

JOHN BASSI

PART 4

TAMING TAILDRAGGERS

THE CG is an aeroplane’s balance point where the vertical, horizontal and longitudinal axes all meet. In a tricycle-gear plane, with a nosewheel, that CG sits along the longitudinal axis in front of the main landing gear roughly halfway back from the nose. That’s why the nosewheel wants to fall downward after touchdown. Once down, that nosewheel handles most of the steering chores.

On a taildragger, the main landing gear sits much farther forward, with the CG just behind it, making the plane far less forgiving of sloppiness in airspeed, flightpath and flight-control movement, and hence the plane’s manners during ground manoeuvres. Throw in a crosswind, and the efforts needed to keep the plane headed where you want are magnified.

Imagine a weathervane on a pole. Because of the vane’s CG, even the mildest breeze makes the front of the vane, or plane, try to point into the wind. Now imagine taxiing a taildragger pointed straight north with a wind from the west. The weather-vane effect tries to align the plane with the wind, a design trait for a weathervane, but

So, what’s it like to fly a tail wheel? The challenge begins by understanding that the centre of gravity sets tailwheel and tricycle-gear planes apart.

A bushcat in its favourite habitat.

for a plane, not so much. That translates into the compulsion for the pilot to constantly use the rudder pedals, creating the often cursed “rudder dance.”

The trick is to lead the rudder movement to remain planted on the centre line, ensuring the tail wheel remains between the track of the main gear, a little right rudder, then a little left, and back and forth in hopefully smaller bites, in a dance of a coordinated series of inputs. Tailwheel pilots also learn to treat their brakes gingerly. Stomp on them during any kind of forward movement and the plane could go over on its nose, or even its back. Aircraft with a castering nosewheel that demand active rudder control can give pilots a small taste of taildragging.

respect for the use of the rudder

Because the nose of a taildragger is already pointing skyward on the ground, it’s impossible to see ahead to taxi. The only solution, other than adding a pillow beneath the pilot, is to “S” turn, looking out each side window as the aircraft turns. The trick here is to taxi a tailwheel plane slowly.

That nose-high attitude also adds a built-in angle of attack, making taildraggers more susceptible to the wind. A few hours of instruction in a moderate wind quickly teaches pilots the importance of remembering where to place the flight controls, both aileron and

rudder, to prevent surprise movements on the ground. The Plane Flying Handbook says, “The best approach is to understand that tailwheel aircraft are not damaged from the use of too much rudder, but rather from rudder inputs held for too long,” hence the need to practice that rudder dance.

A tiny corner of Oskosh, from the seat of a bushcat. There were 10 000 aircraft on display.

After 400 to 500 landings in the Bushcat, I developed a serious respect for the use of the rudder during crosswind operations.

Once a pilot becomes comfortable taxiing a taildragger while correcting for the wind, landing and takeoff won’t seem all that different, at least when it comes to flight controls.

On takeoff, the pilot should gently and slowly add power and expect the plane to try and turn to the left on the ground, thanks to a more pronounced P-factor with that nose up in the air. A tailwheel pilot is ready with right rudder, but not too much. As the plane gains speed and begins turning right, the pilot must be ready with a little less right rudder and possibly some left. Back and forth it goes while at the same time, with that blast of air across the tail, the elevator quickly becomes effective. The pilot soon nudges just a little forward pressure on the stick (which initially feels so wrong) and raises the tail, a move that instantly increases the pilot’s visibility over the nose and improves the stability. Dance the rudder pedals and at

the correct speed, ease the stick back ever so slightly, and you’re flying. Now this becomes like flying any other plane.

Initially I got myself too bogged down in all the details of what to do or not do in a taildragger, but seriously, flying one of these planes is a whole lot of fun, making tricycle planes boring.

in a flash and a blur

on one wheel

On landing and takeoff, tailwheel pilots quickly learn just the right mixture of aileron, rudder and elevator during a crosswind, as well as touching down or lifting off on the upwind wheel to keep the plane pointed straight down the centreline. For landing, there’s a full stall, or three-point landing, as well as wheeler landings, where you try to keep the tail in the air as long as possible as the aircraft slows. This also feels so wrong initially.

In a three-point, the plane has finished flying by the time the plane touches down simultaneously on all three wheels. In the faster wheeler landing, the pilot has more positive control, touching down on just the

The Oskosh Bushcat static display. Such a joy to fly the bushcat and see Oskosh from above.

mains first. The trick there is to feel the tail running out of effectiveness and gently lowering it to the ground.

There are rewards for the pilot who devotes the time to understand these tailwheel creatures. There are more precise movements of the flight controls that come from taildraggers, something I had almost forgotten, precise movements on the rudder, the ailerons and, most of all, the elevator. The need for gentle yet firm pitch control came flooding back to me, and just enough forward movement on the stick makes the little Bushcat come to life.

No doubt, flying a taildragger, even when you’re able to practice regularly, can easily become a humbling experience for the complacent pilot. Currency in a tailwheel plane must include full-stop landings.

No introduction to tailwheel planes would be complete without mentioning ground-loops, a notoriously uncontrolled manoeuvre lying in wait for any pilot who fails to remember their tailwheel basics.

I remember my first loop whilst almost coming to a dead stop after a slow taxi. With a slight crosswind the little Cat headed 30 degrees to the right of the centreline and, before either of us could stop it, it had spun round 360 degrees to a stop in a flash and a blur on one wheel.

Maybe all this tailwheel training really translates into a heightened sensitivity to what’s needed to fly a plane safely.

Crosswinds will always worry me, not because I think I can handle anything that comes along, but because of the unknown. I have well learned the importance of knowing when to head for another airport where the wind is more manageable, rather than risk a runway excursion.

Never stop flying a tailwheel plane, from the moment the engine spins over, until you tie it down on the ramp or close the hangar door.

AME Doctors Listing

THE DAKOTA GAMBLERS WEEKEND

One Friday afternoon, two venerable Douglas DC-3 'Dakota' airliners started their engines at Lanseria Airport and taxied out for takeoff.

THIS WAS IN THE PRE ‘Bantustan’ era when legal gambling was prohibited in South Africa. Instead, local gamblers were obliged to journey to one of the neighbouring countries such as Botswana, Swaziland or Lesotho, to enjoy a legal casino weekend with accommodation, ala carte cuisine, and also the possibility of attending strip shows, or a locally banned movie.

Immigration formalities completed, 56 passengers comprising mostly men with a few wives and other sundry ladies boarded two Daks for the weekend jaunt to a foreign land.

I was in the cockpit of the lead Dak, with the second aircraft a few minutes behind us. Once airborne we both turned east for the green hills of Swaziland. Reaching nine thousand feet, each aircraft levelled off and reduced to cruising power.

The Highveld summer afternoon weather was clear, and the unpressurised Dakotas bumped occasionally as they surfed the warm air thermals, cruising at a stately 135 knots.

JEFFREY KEMPSON

A Britten Norman Islander in the Okavango Delta.

Banned movies were a popular attraction in Swaziland and Lesotho.

Approaching Witbank, snacks and drinks were served. While I was eating an egg sandwich, a short middleaged chap entered the cockpit clutching an open beer can. Cockpit visitors were commonplace in those days, as the only aircraft being hijacked seemed to journey to Cuba, which was well beyond our range capability.

I greeted him cordially, and he looked at the instrument panel and said, “There are a lot of gauges.”

I agreed, “Yes, and we even know what they are all for.” This seemed to please him and he took a swig of his beer. Then he looked at his watch, and asked, “What time will be landing at Maseru?”

I looked at the other pilot, raised my eyebrows and said to the man; “We’re going to Matsapa in Swaziland, not to Maseru. That’s in Lesotho.”

He said, “No, we are going to the Maseru Holiday Inn for two nights. My daughter and her husband have already left by car to meet us there.”

I got onto the radio frequency tuned to the other Dakota, and spoke to the co-pilot; “Please ask our Chief Pilot, and multiple Dakota owner; Captain Fantastic, who took the booking for today’s flight? We have a passenger in the cockpit that is adamant that our destination should be Maseru. Specifically, the Holiday Inn there.”

There was a few moments silence, and the chief pilot, and aircraft owner replied, “I’ll ask my wife. She took the booking.”

This was in pre-GPS days, so we started scrabbling for aviation charts, a protractor, and a low altitude Jespersen radio navigation chart.

The Chief Pilot’s wife was the cabin attendant on the second Dak and she came on the radio and said, “Matsapa, Maseru. What’s the difference? Aren’t they the same place?”

The more than 90 degree heading change need to alter course from Matsapa to Maseru.

“Matsapa, Maseru. What’s the difference?

“No” I replied. “They’re totally different towns – a great distance apart.”

There was a lengthy silence, then she meekly said “Oh, sorry.” Then Captain Fantastic came on and said. “Won’t you give me a heading, and tell ATC we are going to alter course for Maseru?”

I said, “No, I’m too embarrassed. You do it, your wife took the booking, and it’s just as well we filled right up with fuel. But stand by for a heading. It’s probably going to be over ninety degrees to the right, and we may have to change altitude for semi-circular compliance.”

I heard him call ‘Smuts ATC’ and the dialogue generated caused considerable mirth among the listening airborne fraternity.

I turned to the male passenger and said, “Would you mind leaving the cockpit now, we’re going to be a bit busy sorting this out. We have to look at maps, and work out a new heading and ETA, so won’t have time to chat.

He smirked and replied; “Lucky I came up here to talk to you guys.”

I nodded in agreement, then unfurled a one in a million scale aviation chart that included Lesotho. Shortly thereafter we found a plastic Jeppsen scale ruler which we applied to the low altitude Jepp radio chart, which gave us the new distance and heading. Then spinning my trusty metal aviation prayer wheel computer I came up with an ETA for Maseru.

I relayed these to Capt. Fantastic and his Co-pilot, who then spoke to ATC. Once on the new course, I ate the other half of my egg sandwich.

Then, as we had no working PA system, the other pilot went back into the cabin and told our lady cabin attendant to advise the pax of our new arrival time, some 45 minutes later than expected in Maseru, and to apologise for the incorrect booking, and ply them with more free alcohol.

The gamblers took the news with good cheer, and a little nervous laughter, as our cockpit visitor had already advised them that “we were lost, going the wrong way, but that he had saved us from landing at the wrong airport in the wrong country.”

I was glad this wasn’t a business flight where forthcoming appointments might have been missed, leading to angst and written repercussions.

In late afternoon sunlight we landed at the old Maseru Airport in good weather, with over an hour of daylight remaining. After completing immigration and customs formalities, we boarded the buses supplied by the Holiday Inn and transferred to the almost new hotel.

After breakfast the next morning, we noticed a poster displayed in reception advertising the showing of a banned film “Deep Throat.” It would be screened in one of the conference rooms at 11.00.

Unsurprisingly, with time on our hands, and not having this form of risqué entertainment available to us in Johannesburg, we male crew members elected to attend.

At the due time several of us sat down in the back row of seats. This lightweight row of seats was connected to each other at floor level and had been moved into the room as a single portable unit.

The film started, and we were disappointed to note that the thin closed curtains in the function room were a poor fit. Eager volunteers tugged them this way and that to try and block out the bright, invasive Lesotho morning light, with little success.

Adding to this, the quality of the film was so poor, that portions of it were barely discernible, and the star Ms Lovelace was sometimes almost invisible. This was a considerable disappointment to us.

Anyway, we pilots had had a few too many drinks in the bar the night before, and as the abysmal quality of the film and intrusive sunlight rendered the apparently classic blue movie unwatchable, I lost interest, and

Ms Lovelace was almost invisible

dozed off. To be awoken a little later to a rhythmic rocking motion of our row of attached seats. I thought it was caused by an earth tremor, but moments later, to shouts of dismay, our entire row of connected seats fell backwards, and I found myself gazing at the bland ceiling.

We gingerly extracted ourselves from the prone row of seats, and one of our number claimed to have glimpsed a deviant male rushing out the door. His animations had doubtless induced our dangerous imbalance, Disappointed, we abandoned the unwatchable movie. Then, as I massaged my sore back, we all headed once again for the bar.

It was a memorable weekend for me in other ways as well. I was having lunch alone as my colleagues had gone off to a market. An attractive brunette lady, also dining solo, sat at an adjacent table and kept looking at me, which triggered the memory of an unusual event.

One long distant night, a young fellow aviator and I had attended a séance at a Parktown house. I had heard and

read a little of these activities where ostensibly psychic individuals sat around a table with a Ouija board. They would induce a trance and invite discarnate spirits to move an upturned glass over a letter board to spell out messages from “the other side.”

This particular séance was Ouija board free, but we all sat around an oval table anyway, in very dim lighting, as the ensemble took turns trying to attract discarnate spirits. Every now and then a participant would affect an unnaturally deep voice and start an incoherent muttering. Hearing this, one of the other mediums would intone the phrase “Welcome friend.” Thereafter the mumbling spirit would start relating a tale in a strange voice, not associated with their usual speech pattern.

Most of the visitors who “came through “claimed to be nobles of high birth. Cleopatra was one. Strangely, another was Sitting Bull, a long dead Red Indian Chief. None of the other visiting spirits seemed to be of a lower order. There were no deceased electricians, scullery maids, or others of that category present.

Three of the Daks at their Lanseria base.

Anyway, my fellow pilot friend and I soon became bored, and quietly slipped out of the room. While closing the door, a large grey cat started rubbing itself against my legs. With the impetuosity of youth, I picked up the cat, walked quietly back into the room and gently placed the cat onto the table, and said in my deepest voice; “Welcome Pussy.” Then I closed the door.

Moments later the cat set up a loud caterwauling, then people started screaming, and all hell broke loose. We raced for the car, and sped away, never to be invited back.

I thought the lady at the next dining room table had been one of the participants at the séance, so I went over and asked, “Didn’t we meet at a séance in Parktown some time ago? I think you channelled Cleopatra.”

She gave me a withering look and replied; “Certainly not! I believe in God. Do you?”

I replied, “I’m sure you were playing Cleopatra that evening, and in fact you still look like her.”

A look of utter disdain crossed her face. She shrieked “Philistine!” at me and kept repeating that epithet with rising hysteria. I abandoned my desert and walked quickly out the dining room.

That evening, we were back in the dining room, which was packed with gamblers, we crew enjoyed a good meal while a three piece band and a female singer entertained us.

In my pre-professional pilot days I had been a musician, and then a cabaret stand-up comedian. So during a band break I struck up a conversation with the female vocalist. We established a rapport, and talked of the many excellent musicians we knew and some of the exclusive clubs where they had played in a more sophisticated era. I mentioned a friend called Johnny, a world class modern jazz musician.

After the band returned and started playing, the lady vocalist sang a tuneful ballad, and when the polite applause had died down, she looked directly at our

table, picked up the mike, and said; “Jeff, that song was for Johnny. This one’s for you!” Then she sang a Diana Ross number; “Upside down you’re turning me, you’re giving love instinctively….” It’s a really swinging, up-tempo number, and she had a good voice. So I had to dance.

The air hostess from our plane joined me and we excelled ourselves. After the number everyone applauded loudly. Even now, I remember that event being one of those rare, larger than life ‘peak experiences’.

When I sat down at our table, Captain Fantastic remarked “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

I replied, “That’s because you’re such an extrovert, you’re always grabbing centre stage and talking about yourself, so no one else can get a word in edgewise.”

That took the wind out of his sails. The other pilots thought of applauding, but not having been paid for the trip yet, thought better of it.

After a memorable evening I was invited to the lady vocalist’s staff flat. She had a hi-fi and we played music we enjoyed and discussed musicians we knew. It was a refreshing change from the usual banal pilot talk of, flaps and flight levels, tailwinds, and the recanting of fearsome thunderstorms we’d avoided.

The next morning I was happily late for breakfast. During that Sunday morning, Capt. Fantastic attended a Persian carpet auction at the hotel and purchased several of them.

Mid-afternoon we boarded the passengers into the two Dakotas, some of whom looked pretty rueful, doubtless contemplating their unmentioned losses.

Then both aircraft holds were almost filled with Persian carpets. We flew back to Lanseria without incident, nor any turbulence induced passenger illness. Sadly, the aircraft owner and chief pilot’s gambling excesses, together with his Persian Carpet purchases had left him short of funds. So, we freelance pilots didn’t get paid for that flight for a further three weeks.

I was happily late for breakfast

THE URAL A320 FORCED LANDING

A Ural Airlines Airbus A320-200, flying from Sochi to Omsk in Russia was landed in a field after becoming fuel critical.

URAL FLIGHT U6-1383 with 159 passengers and 6 crew, was on final approach to Omsk’s runway when the crew initiated a go around from about 2,000ft due to a hydraulic failure. The aircraft climbed to 18,000 feet and diverted to Novosibirsk about 320 nm east of Omsk.

The A320 never made it to Novosibirsk. Just 11 km from the airport and with less than 5 minutes of fuel left, the decision was made to perform a forced emergency landing on an open field. Due to the hydraulic failure the landing gear doors remained open for the entire diversion which together with strong head winds increased fuel consumption.

The governor of Omsk stated that the crew reported a hydraulic problem affecting the brakes and were concerned the aircraft would not be able to stop on the runway in Omsk. The crew therefore diverted to Novosibirsk where longer runways (length 3,600 meters/11,800 feet) are available and sufficient to stop the aircraft despite the hydraulics failure. According to computations there should have been sufficient fuel on board to reach the aerodrome and land safely.

The nosewheel is being repaired and the aircraft is expected to be flown out of the field.

The Ural A320 after landing in a field.

FLYING SURGEONS END BURN NIGHTMARE

A little girl, who suffered horrific burns injuries when she was just one and a half, has been given fresh hope after treatment from a team of surgeons flown by Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) to remote towns in northern Kenya.

Under the wing of the MAF Cessna 208 - the CURE, MOHI and MAF Kenya team in Lodwar, Northern Kenya Photo, Acadius Akungwi.

THE LONG TERM DAMAGE caused by the horrific burns suffered by young Neyeso were compounded by her mother’s struggle to raise adequate funds for treatment. Then in a heartbreaking blow, after the family eventually raised the money, it was stolen before they reached the hospital.

Neyso’s breakthrough came when MAF Kenya flew a team of medical specialists for a round trip to three far-flung towns: Bura, Kargi and Lodwar in Northern Kenya for the long-running AIC CURE Medical Safaris.

The team that included orthopaedic surgeons, a trauma technician, a social worker, a data clerk, and a pastor used the MAF flights to avoid 9-10 hours of road travel, reaching their destinations after just two hours in the air.

The medical team assessed children with conditions such as club feet, syndactyly (joined fingers), chronic DDH (developmental dysplasia of the hip), cerebral palsy, contractures, and other medical conditions.

MAF Kenya flew a team of medical specialists

Neyeso’s journey

At only one and a half years old, Neyeso had been playing outside her house, when out of curiosity, she walked into a heap of manure that was smouldering nearby. She could not have known the danger.

Her mother heard screams and hurried outside to find out what was happening, only to find her daughter stuck in the burning manure. She quickly pulled her out of the fire.

fire was especially severe on her toes. Neyeso wailed in pain and could not lift her foot to walk.

Neyeso was rushed to the nearest hospital but due to a lack of money to cover hospital expenses, no assessment was carried out and they had to go back home. For nearly three months after the burns, Neyeso did not receive any treatment and the wounds became more infected, leaving her in unbearable pain.

The situation was also agonising for the parents due to the hard economic times many faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. They decided to seek help from family and friends as well as sell half of their livestock to raise funds for treatment.

With the little funds raised, they visited Marsabit County Referral Hospital but on their way, they lost everything they had to robbers. Upon reaching the hospital, an assessment was done by a physician who confirmed 30% burns on Neyeso but could not

The mother soon realised Neyeso had sustained severe burns on her left foot and hand. The damage from the

Neyeso walks out of CURE Kijabe Hospital with a cast on her foot.

proceed with offering her treatment due to the severity of the burns and a lack of funds to cover the hospital bills. They all went back home without getting the help they needed.

Before leaving the hospital, the doctor referred them to yet another option; the Meru County Referral Hospital which the physician cited was more equipped to help her. Neyeso’s health kept on deteriorating to the point the mother thought she was going to lose her daughter. She went back home disappointed, but she held on to hope.

Family and friends raised more funds to cover transportation and treatment costs in Meru County and Neyeso and her mother were set to travel. Upon reaching the hospital, the doctors assessed her, and she was admitted, and treatment started immediately. Neyeso stayed at the hospital for four months.

At the end of the four months, Neyeso’s condition had slightly improved but her leg was bent inwards restricting her movement and her hand had been severely damaged that she could not hold anything. The doctors advised Neyeso’s mother to seek more help from specialist hospitals in the city to help correct the condition of her daughter’s hand and leg. She left the hospital and travelled back home.

The miracle had come at the right time

Hope knocks on the door

“When I came back home with my daughter, I felt like all hope was lost. I thought about all the days we had spent in the hospital, the struggles we faced to raise money and still my daughter did not receive the medical care she needed,” Neyeso’s mother said.

A devastated mother with her child in her arms, she had been left feeling hopeless but was still determined to get treatment for Neyeso after seven months of heartache.

“After a few days at home, a neighbour came with the news that MAF was flying in specialists for the AIC CURE International Hospital, which was setting up a clinic at the Missions of Hope International School Napuu in Lodwar, not far from where we lived,” she said.

“I quickly decided to take Neyeso to the clinic and immediately after the doctor assessed her condition, she was scheduled for her first surgery to treat her leg which was severely damaged. I could not thank God enough for this big miracle,” her mother added.

The miracle had come at the right time when the family needed it. Neyeso went for surgery at the CURE Kijabe Hospital, and it was a success.

During the September CURE safari clinic, Neyeso was brought by her parents for a post-surgery observation, and the doctors were happy to see that she had fully recovered her mobility and could walk well. 

Neyeso is held by her father after they were discharged from the hospital. Photo, Amon Tole

P&W’S GTF – A U$3 BILLION RECALL

Airlines will need to remove hundreds of Pratt & Whitney PW1100G geared turbofan (GTF) engines from the wings of Airbus A320neo family jets by the end of 2024 to inspect for defective high-pressure turbine and compressor discs.

P&W PARENT COMPANY RTX revealed the scope of the issue on 11 September, which it says will cost it over $3 billion. It centres on a previously disclosed defect involving a “rare condition in powdered metal used to manufacture certain engine parts”.

P&W discovered the issue in 2020 when an in-service International Aero Engines (IAE) V2500 engine suffered a blade failure. P&W, which is the majority owner of IAE, makes V2500 and PW1100G blades using the same process. Since then, the engine maker and US Federal Aviation Administration had taken piecemeal steps to address the problem in various groups of V2500s and PW1100Gs.

The issue is sure to further disrupt an airline industry already struggling with shortages of engines and maintenance capacity.

RTX says 600-700 PW1100G engines must be removed from A320neos and inspected between now and 2026. That figure is “beyond [P&W’s] shop visit forecast entering 2023”. Of those inspections, the “majority” will be completed this year and early next.

MTU Aero Engines – which owns 18% of the GTF programme – says the problem will result in “an average of 350 aircraft-on-ground in the period 2024 to 2026”. RTX says it will take a $3.5 billion charge against its third-quarter results due to the issue. MTU expects the problem will cost it €1 billion ($1.08 billion) in lost revenue this fiscal year.

But in August, RTX said many more PW1100Gs –

some 1,200 – might have defective components. It also said those engines would need to be removed over the next year. P&W does explain how the 1,200 figure differs from its latest estimate of 600-700 engines.

“We are focused on addressing the challenges arising from the powder metal manufacturing issue,” says RTX chief executive Greg Hayes. “We recognise this is an extremely difficult situation for our customers, and we are proactively taking steps to support and mitigate the operational impact to them.”

The company developed a separate plan to address the defect in a broader group of PW1100Gs. Under that plan, operators will need to inspect the discs in affected engines every 2,800-3,800 flight cycles, and replace components every 5,000-7,000 cycles.

Still unclear, however, is the degree to which other P&W engines might be affected. The manufacturer is now evaluating the scope of the problem, but it believes other powerplants will be “far less impacted based on existing inspections, lower utilisation profiles and/or existing maintenance interviews”.

A P&W GTF engine on an A230.

South Africa

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Khubenker Energy (Pty) Ltd T/A Benveroy

Vernon Bartlett 086 484 4296 vernon@khubenker.co.za www.khubenker.co.za

Kit Planes for Africa

Stefan Coetzee 013 793 7013 info@saplanes.co.za www.saplanes.co.za

Kzn Aviation (Pty) Ltd

Melanie Jordaan 031 564 6215 mel@kznaviation.co.za www.kznaviation.co.za

Lanseria Aircraft Interiors

Francois Denton 011 659 1962 / 076 810 9751 francois@aircraftcompletions.co.za

Lanseria Flight Centre

Ian Dyson Tel: +27 11 312 5166, F: +27 11 312 5166 ian@flylfc.com www.flylfc.com

Lanseria International Airport

Mike Christoph 011 367 0300 mikec@lanseria.co.za www.lanseria.co.za

Leading Edge Aviation cc

Peter Jackson Tel 013 741 3654 Fax 013 741 1303 office@leaviation.co.za www.leadingedgeaviation.co.za

Legend Sky 083 860 5225 / 086 600 7285 info@legendssky.co.za www.legendsky.co.za

Litson & Associates (Pty) Ltd

OGP/BARS Auditing & Advisory Services & Aviation Safety Training

Email: Phone:enquiries@litson.co.za 27 (0) 8517187 www.litson.co.za

Litson & Associates Risk Management Services (Pty) Ltd

eSMS-S™/ eTENDER/ e-REPORT / Aviation Software Systems

Email: Phone:enquiries@litson.co.za 27 (0) 8517187 www.litson.co.za

Loutzavia Aircraft Sales

Henry Miles 082 966 0911 henry@loutzavia.co.za www.loutzavia.co.za

Loutzavia Flight Training

Gerhardt Botha 012 567 6775 ops@loutzavia.co.za www.loutzavia.co.za

Loutzavia-Pilots and Planes

Maria Loutzis 012 567 6775 maria@loutzavia.co.za www.pilotsnplanes.co.za

Loutzavia Rand

Frans Pretorius 011 824 3804 rand@loutzavia.co.za www@loutzavia.co.za

Lowveld Aero Club Pugs Steyn 013 741 3636 Flynow@lac.co.za

Maverick Air Charters

Lourens Human 082 570 2743 ops@maverickair.co.za www.maverickair.co.za

MCC Aviation Pty Ltd

Claude Oberholzer 011 701 2332 info@flymcc.co.za www.flymcc.co.za

Mistral Aviation Services Peter de Beer 083 208 7249 peter@mistral.co.za

MH Aviation Services (Pty) Ltd

Marc Pienaar 011 609 0123 / 082 940 5437 customerrelations@mhaviation.co.za www.mhaviation.co.za

M and N Acoustic Services cc Martin de Beer 012 689 2007/8 calservice@mweb.co.za

Metropolitan Aviation (Pty) Ltd

Gert Mouton 082 458 3736 herenbus@gmail.com

Money Aviation Angus Money 083 263 2934 angus@moneyaviation.co.za www.moneyaviation.co.za

North East Avionics Keith Robertson +27 13 741 2986 keith@northeastavionics.co.za deborah@northeastavionics.co.za www.northeastavionics.co.za

Orsmond Aviation 058 303 5261 info@orsmondaviation.co.za www.orsmondaviation.co.za

Owenair (Pty) Ltd Clive Skinner 082 923 9580 clive.skinner@owenair.co.za www.owenwair.co.za

Par-Avion Exclusive Catering Jakkie Vorster 011 701 2600 accounts@par-avion.co.za www.par-avion.co.za

PFERD-South Africa (Pty) Ltd Hannes Nortman 011 230 4000 hannes.nortman@pferd.co.za www.pferd.com

Plane Maintenance Facility

Johan 083 300 3619 pmf@myconnection.co.za

Powered Flight Charters

Johanita Jacobs Tel 012 007 0244/Fax 0866 66 2077 info@poweredflight.co.za www.poweredflight.co.za

Powered Flight Training Centre

Johanita Jacobs Tel 012 007 0244/Fax 0866 66 2077 info@poweredflight.co.za www.poweredflight.co.za

Precision Aviation Services Marnix Hulleman 012 543 0371 marnix@pasaviation.co.za www.pasaviation.co.za

Propeller Centre Theuns du Toit +27 12 567 1689 / +27 71 362 5152 theuns@propcentre.co.za www.propcentre.com

Rainbow SkyReach (Pty) Ltd

Mike Gill 011 817 2298 Mike@fly-skyreach.com www.fly-skyreach.com

Rand Airport Kevin van Zyl Kevin@horizonrisk.co.za +27 76 801 5639 www.randairport.co.za

Dr Rudi Britz Aviation Medical Clinic

Megan 066 177 7194 rudiavmed@gmail.com Wonderboom Airport

SAA Technical (SOC) Ltd

SAAT Marketing 011 978 9993 satmarketing@flysaa.com www.flysaa.com/technical

SABRE Aircraft

Richard Stubbs 083 655 0355 richardstubbs@mweb.co.za www.aircraftafrica.co.za

Savannah Helicopters De 082Jager 444 1138 / 044 873 3288 dejager@savannahhelicopters.co.za www.savannahhelicopters.co.za

Scenic Air

Christa van Wyk +264 612 492 68 windhoek@scenic-air.com www.scenic-air.com

Sheltam Aviation Durban

Susan Ryan 083 505 4882 susanryan@sheltam.com www.sheltamaviation.com

Sheltam Aviation PE

Brendan Booker 082 497 6565 brendanb@sheltam.com www.sheltamaviation.com

Signature Flight Support Cape Town

Alan Olivier 021 934 0350 cpt@signatureflight.co.za www.signatureaviation.com/locations/CPT

Signco (Pty Ltd)

Archie Kemp Tel 011 452 6857 Fax 086 504 5239 info@signco.zo.za www.signco.co.za

Skytrim Rico Kruger +27 11 827 6638 rico@skytrim.co.za www.skytrim.co.za

SleepOver

Michael Richardson 010 110 9900 michael.richardson@sleepover-za.com www.sleepover-za.com

Sling Aircraft Kim Bell-Cross 011 948 9898 sales@airplanefactory.co.za www.airplanefactory.co.za

Solenta Aviation (Pty Ltd)

Paul Hurst 011 707 4000 info@solenta.com www.solenta.com

Southern Energy Company (Pty) Ltd

Elke Bertram +264 8114 29958 johnnym@sec.com.na www.sec.com.na

Southern Rotorcraft cc Mr Reg Denysschen Tel no: 0219350980 sasales@rotors-r-us.com www.rotors-r-us.com

Starlite Aero Sales

Klara Fouché +27 83 324 8530 / +27 31 571 6600 klaraf@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com

Starlite Aviation Operations

Trisha Andhee +27 82 660 3018/ +27 31 571 6600 trishaa@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com

Starlite Aviation Training Academy

Durban: +27 31 571 6600 Mossel Bay: +27 44 692 0006 train@starliteaviation.com www.starliteaviation.com

Status Aviation (Pty) Ltd

Richard Donian 074 587 5978 / 086 673 5266 info@statusaviation.co.za www.statusaviation.co.za

Superior Pilot Services Liana Jansen van 0118050605/2247Rensburg info@superiorair.co.za www.superiorair.co.za

Swift Flite Linda Naidoo Tel 011 701 3298 Fax 011 701 3297 info@swiftflite.com / linda@swiftflite.com www.swiftflite.co.za

The Aviation Shop

Karel Zaayman 010 020 1618 info@aviationshop.co.za www.aviationshop.co.za

The Copter Shop Bill Olmsted 082 454 8555 execheli@iafrica.com www.execheli.wixsite.com/the-copter-shop-sa

The Pilot Shop Helen Bosland 082 556 3729 helen@pilotshop.co.za www.pilotshop.co.za

Titan Helicopter Group 044 878 0453 info@titanhelicopters.com www.titanhelicopters.com

Top Flight Academy Nico Smith 082 303 1124 topflightklerksdorp@gmail.com

Turbo Prop Service Centre 011 701 3210 info@tpscsa.co.za www.tpscsa.co.za

Ultimax Aviation (Pty) Ltd Aristide Loumouamou +27 72 878 8786 aristide@ultimax-aviation.com www.ultimax-aviation.com

United Charter cc Jonathan Wolpe 083 270 8886 jonathan.wolpe@unitedcharter.co.za www.unitedcharter.co.za

United Flight Support Clinton Moodley/Jonathan Wolpe 076 813 7754 / 011 788 0813 ops@unitedflightsupported.com www.unitedflightsupport.com

Velocity Aviation Collin Pearson 011 659 2306 / 011 659 2334 collin@velocityaviation.co.za www.velocityaviation.co.za

Villa San Giovanni Luca Maiorana 012 111 8888 info@vsg.co.za www.vsg.co.za

Vortx Aviation Bredell Roux 072 480 0359 info@vortx.co.za www.vortxaviation.com

Wanafly Adrian Barry 082 493 9101 adrian@wanafly.net www.wanafly.co.za

Windhoek Flight Training Centre Thinus Dreyer 0026 40 811284 180 pilots@flywftc.com www.flywftc.com

Wings n Things Wendy Thatcher 011 701 3209 wendy@wingsnthings.co.za www.wingsnthings.co.za

Witbank Flight School Andre De Villiers 083 604 1718 andredv@lantic.net www.waaflyingclub.co.za

Wonderboom Airport Peet van Rensburg 012 567 1188/9 peet@wonderboomairport.co.za www.wonderboomairport.co.za

Zandspruit Bush & Aero Estate Martin Den Dunnen 082 449 8895 martin@zandspruit.co.za www.zandspruit.co.za

Zebula Golf Estate & SPA Reservations 014 734 7700 reception@zebula.co.za www.zebula.co.za